BusinessMirror November 13, 2015

special report

BATTLE OF THE ‘BANDS’ Globe, PLDT try to snatch SMC’s 700-MHz band as Telstra entry starts market shake-up »A4

media partner of the year

United nations

2015 environmental Media Award leadership award 2008

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Thursday 18, 2014 Vol. No. 40 Friday, November 13,102015 Vol. 11 No. 36

nn

NO NEED TO STIMULATE ECONOMY VIA RATE TWEAKS FOR NOW

BSP opts to keep rates steady anew T

INSIDE

By Bianca Cuaresma

is ‘spectre’ the end of the road for oo7?

he monetary authorities pushed aside on Thursday doubts that local output growth, measured as GDP, could stall over the next 18 to 24 months and kept the rate at which they lend to or borrow from banks steady in recognition that price pressures, and by extension the monetary-policy settings, remain appropriate.

Such was the confidence of the policy-making Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) that price pressures rated weak at present were to move back to more appropriate levels over the policy horizon, it even scaled back the forecast inflation to 1.4 percent this year, instead of 1.6 percent originally.

The forecast slower inflation this year contrasted sharply against target inflation—ranging from 2 percent up to 4 percent—not just for the current year, but for 2016 and 2017, as well.

Appropriate levels of inflation tell

P25.00 nationwide | 6 sections 34 pages | 7 days a week

MYANMAR’S ARMY OFFERS HELPING HAND TO SUU KYI A rmy Chief Min Aung Hlaing respects the outcome of Myanmar’s election, and is willing to work with a new government led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) , a senior government official said.

“The commander in chief of the armed forces has said that he will accept the position made by the Myanmar people, and will also work with a new government,” Minister of Information Ye Htut said in an interview. In a separate written statement, the army offered its congratula-

tions to the NLD ,“because it is leading in the election results,” and said it was prepared for “national reconciliation talks” next week.

Suu Kyi’s NLD is dominating early returns from the Sunday vote, and is on track to rout the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, the military’s political arm. Aung Hlaing publicly bowing to the results may reassure the NLD, which fear a repeat of Myanmar’s first modern election in 1990, when the NLD also won a sweeping victory, only to see the ruling generals refuse to See “Myanmar,” A2

See “BSP,” A8

PHL POPEMOBILE

life

The Philippinemade popemobile made its debut on the streets of Florence, Italy, on Tuesday, when Pope Francis visited the birthplace of the Renaissance for the Italian Episcopal Conference. The pope underscored the importance of reform, asking the Italian clergy to help him pave the way for a new, dynamic Church that leaves its gilded castle and goes “out into the street, even if it takes some hits and gets dirty,” in order to make helping people its primary mission. The popemobile, purpose-made through the collaboration of Almazora Motors and Isuzu Gencars Makati, was recently turned over to the Vatican

by Isuzu Gencars Managing Director D. Edgard A. Cabangon, who represented the Aliw Media Group as donor. Photo

d1

Ford Focus raises the bar anew

courtesy of Lorlyn Lim-Almazora’s Facebook page

Govt told to give inclusive business models opportunity to multiply in PHL motoring

BusinessMirror media partner

By Catherine N. Pillas

e1

T

he Asian Development Bank (ADB) is urging the government to create the enabling environment that will allow more companies to adopt the inclusive business (IB) models—tagged as “profit-oriented but socially impactful” ventures targeting the people at the so-called base of the pyramid—in the country.

The housing, agribusiness and tourism sectors have been identified as good launching pads for these ventures.

This was aired during the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) H ig h-le ve l D i a log ue on I nc lu-

PESO exchange rates n US 47.1310

sive Business on Thursday at the Manila Peninsula.

The IB model, said Eriko Ishikawa, global head of the Inclusive Business Team of the World Bank-International Finance Corp., is a “private-sector approach to providing goods, services and livelihood on a commercially viable basis to people at the base of the pyramid by making them part of the value chain of companies’ core business as suppliers, distributors, retailers or consumers.”

The IB approach, according to the dialogue stakeholders , is different from social enterprises in terms of their scale of impact.

It is also different from the corporate social responsibility (CSR) in that the IB ventures are profit-oriented. The incorporation of the poor communities makes IB different, as it is part of a firm’s core business, and not as mere beneficiaries, which is how most large corporation’s CSR projects work.

The poor communities are also targeted as a new market for goods and services under the IB models. The IB models can either be directly within a company’s value chain or a single business model of a small company.

The IB approach has been determined to have an important development See “Inclusive business models,” A2

n japan 0.3836 n UK 71.7145 n HK 6.0809 n CHINA 7.4030 n singapore 33.2143 n australia 33.2564 n EU 50.6234 n SAUDI arabia 12.5689

Source: BSP (12 November 2015)

A2

News

BusinessMirror

Friday, November 13, 2015

Inclusive business models. . .

impact, as it targets low-income communities and is considered a step toward reducing poverty.

Dr. Armin Bauer, ADB principal economist, said that, while fiscal incentives are not a must in encouraging the private firms to engage in IB models, a specific environment needs to be in place for these ventures to gain traction.

“I think there is an issue that government has to listen more to business, not just on making a better business environment but a specific business environment for IB because it’s something new,” Bauer said during the news conference.

What’s needed, said the ADB economist, is not fiscal incentives, but structural reforms to ensure the IB ventures will deliver on the twin goals of becoming profitable but, at the same time, involve the “base of the pyramid” community in their supply chain.

He cited better land-right management and financial guarantees for firms in the housing industry as an example of structural aid.

This need for structural reform has already been identified earlier in a consultant’s report on IB that was submitted to the Board of Investments (BOI) by the Asian Social Enterprise Incubator.

According to the report, the BOI has worked with the ADB in creating a frame-

Pay hike. . .

Continued from A1

work for the IB models, and has already piloted an IB-accreditation system.

From the pilot stage, it was determined that the sectors of housing, agri-business and tourism would be the initial areas where the IB model could be launched.

Crucial to the creation of the framework—as emphasized by BOI Managing Head Adrian S. Cristobal Jr.—is that the IB model must lead to significant job creation and provision of goods and services to the poor at considerable scale.

From the piloting of the accreditation system, it was also determined that the BOI should give IB Support Services to encourage companies to adopt the IB model.

Among the specific recommendations is to establish priority access to “IB-accredited companies to existing and relevant government programs.”

However, on the question of the IB accreditation process itself, Cristobal said the BOI is still determining what the best route to take in giving this preferential treatment to companies.

“The accreditation itself is something we have to test first; many of these IB enterprises have been growing without government intervention. Right now we are promoting it and we support it, and to the extent possible for the companies to come within our responsibility as the BOI, is to

encourage them. For the rules part, we’re still studying it,” Cristobal said.

The trade undersecretary said he is open to a separate accreditation and registration process for the IB enterprises, but stressed that the government is also being careful not to encumber the private sector with more rules. “We’re studying it carefully and that it’s really going to be useful and not add any more burden to the company.” The IB model is currently in the 2014 Investment Priority Plan of the BOI, not as a specific economic activity eligible for incentives, but as a “general economic strategy.”

Among the existing IB models identified by the BOI and the ADB is Manila Water’s “Tubig Para sa Barangay” program, which effectively lowered the price of water from 150 cubic meter to P7 cubic meter, for the 1.6 million low-income residents of Manila.

Kennemer Foods’ Cacao Growership Program has also been noted by the two agencies as a successful IB model, as it enlisted small farmers to supply cacao beans under growership agreements.

Meanwhile, the Financial Infrastructure Development Network (FIDN) was launched on Thursday by the Philippines, World Bank and business groups. The

network is a multisectoral platform for promoting initiatives to make financial services in the region more accessible, especially to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The FIDN aims to expand the reach of credit and other financial services for a more inclusive regional economy.

The work of the FIDN across the Asia Pacific will be geared toward creditinformation systems, secured transactions frameworks, insolvency frameworks and factoring.

“By pooling together the vast knowledge and resources within governments, business and multilateral agencies, the FIDN can more effectively accelerate reforms to create an enabling environment for expanding MSMEs’ access to finance,” said Hiroyuki Suzuki, chairman of the Asia-Pacific Financial Forum and the Apec Business Advisory Council’s Finance and Economics Working Group.

The establishment of the FIDN is one of the deliverables under the Cebu Action Plan (CAP), which was submitted to Apec leaders by finance ministers in the Asia-Pacific region. The CAP has four pillars: promoting financial integration; advancing fiscal reforms and transparency; enhancing financial resilience; and accelerating infrastructure development and financing. With Cai U. Ordinario

Edgardo Angara. “After our meeting, the President told us, ‘sige, pag-isipan [ok, we will study the proposal],’ and that’s it. I’m still awaiting his decision.

But let me just say that both Frank Drilon and myself made a strong pitch for our proposal,” Belmonte said in an earlier news conference.

Belmonte, however, admitted that it would be difficult for Congress to pass the measure if the Palace would not certify the bill urgent, considering Congress

has more than one month before adjourning in December. Congress is also set take another break for the 2016 elections’ campaign season in February 2016, he added. Currently, the tax measure is under the House Committee on Ways and Means deliberations.

Majority Floor Leader and Liberal Party Rep. Neptali Gonzales II of Mandaluyong said the tax-reform measure could be passed before the 16th Congress ends if the President certifies it as urgent.

Fidn launched

Continued from A8

He also expressed confidence that President Aquino will decide “on what is favorable to the greater number and for the greater good.”“I cannot convince Finance Secretary [Cesar V.] Purisima anymore, he has taken hard position on this matter which I think is really wrong. It is the President that ultimately makes decision.” The Department of Finance has said the proposal may cause the government to lose revenues totaling as much as

1.5 percent of the country’s GDP, or P30 billion.

Palace may reconsider

Belmonte said the Chief Executive and his economic managers will still study the bill adjusting the levels of taxable income to inflation.

Belmonte said he and Drilon presented to the President the tax-reform measure authored by Quimbo and Senate Ways and Means Chairman Sen. Juan

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Myanmar. . .

Continued from A1

accept the outcome. Suu Kyi won the vote even though she was under house arrest at the time.

Foreign investment

With the NLD poised to break the army’s grip on direct control of the government, the election is proving to be the biggest test yet of just how much influence the military is willing to relinquish after half-a-century rule that left Myanmar one of the poorest nations in Southeast Asia. The quasi- civilian USDP government has opened Myanmar to the outside world since 2010, attracting a flood of foreign investment and fueling some of the fastest economic growth in Southeast Asia.

Even with an NLD government in place, the political system is still rigged to protect the military’s interests. Key ministries, such as defense and interior, are reserved for the army, as well as 25 percent of the seats in each house of the legislature. The military also controls lucrative parts of the economy such as jade mining.

As long as NLD sees the military as a partner, “there will be no problems,” Ye Htut said.

‘People’s will’

President Thein Sein, a former general, said on Wednesday his government also acknowledges the outcome and he was prepared to meet with Suu Kyi once the final results are tallied. Suu Kyi appealed for a meeting with the two men on Wednesday to ensure the“people’s will”is respected as the vote count dragged on.

The election commission has released results of about twothirds of the seats in parliament being contested. The NLD has won 273 seats to about 27 for the USDP. The NLD needs about 330 seats in the two houses to be able to select the next president without relying on any other party for support. The country’s election commission has said counting could take a week or longer.

“The public has expressed their opinion,” Suu Kyi said in letters she sent to Aung Hlaing, Thein Sein and parliament Speaker Shwe Mann asking for a meeting. “It is important to implement the people’s will in a peaceful manner for the sake of the country’s dignity.”

Investors are hoping that an NLD government will further pry open the economy. In a bid to bring Myanmar out of economic isolation, the USDP allowed foreign participation in industries, such as energy exploration, banking and telecommunications.

Foreign direct investment, led by spending on infrastructure and low-cost manufacturing, surged to $8.1 billion in the fiscal year ended in March, more than 20 times the 2010 level. That jump helped annual economic growth average more than 7 percent since that year. Bloomberg News

The Nation BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Friday, November 13, 2015 A3

Soldiers placed on blue alert for Apec summit

S

By Rene Acosta

OLDIERS assigned to secure Metro Manila were placed on blue-alert status in preparation for next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum.

According to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Public Affairs Office chief Col. Noel Detoyato, the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region and the headquarters of the Philippine Army have shifted into blue alert on Wednesday in order to ensure their readiness to respond to any threat connected with the Apec gatherings.

Under blue-alert status, 50 percent of the troops are readily available for possible deployment, according to Detoyato.

He added that units directly involved in the preparation for

Apec have already been deployed to support security efforts.

The military is supporting the Philippine National Police (PNP) in securing delegates who would be attending the meetings, as well as ensuring peace and order in Metro Manila.

“Here at the GHQ, those troops who are directly involved and placed under operational control of security forces for Apec were also alerted,” Detoyato said.

“Actually, they are already attached to the operating units.”

Detoyato added that the mili-

tary will provide necessary support to the PNP and the Presidential Security Group (PSG), which are the lead agencies for the Apec security.

“The role of the AFP is to make available all troops needed by the PSG and the police,” Detoyato said.

Detoyato refused to deal with actual number of troops deployed but stressed “ample forces are being made available.”

“We have a substantial number.

I cannot give you the exact number but, rest assured, we have substantial number that can respond to any contingency.”

“We have taken into consideration all class of contingencies,” Detoyato added. The AFP has not monitored any specific threat against the Apec summit, he said At least 30,000 personnel, the bulk of which are coming from the PNP, have been mobilized to provide security for next week’s meetings.

HEAT TEST

Employees of the Manila International Airport Authority conducted on November 12 what they said is a full-scale crash exercise to meet security standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization. A mock aircraft was set on fire in an area within the Ninoy Aquino International Airport compound to simulate a plane crash and tested the responsiveness of the fire, medical, rescue and security personnel. The crash emergency response exercise was held days before world leaders arrive in Manila for a conference. Nonie Reyes

BMReports BusinessMirror

A4 Friday, November 13, 2015

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BATTLE OF THE ‘BANDS’ Globe, PLDT try to snatch SMC’s 700-MHz band as Telstra entry starts market shake-up B L S. M

D

First of two parts

IVERSIFIED conglomerate San Miguel Corp.

(SMC) owns a precious asset that attracted regional telecommunications player Telstra Corp. Ltd. so much that the Australian firm is willing to make a $1-billion debut in the Philippines. This frequency holdings, however, are now being contested anew by incumbents that claim to have no fear of the impending giant that is set to shake the duopolistic market up.

The Filipino food-to-infrastructure firm has the right to operate telecommunications services using what experts and industry leaders call as an “important swathe of commercial spectrum that allows for better range and penetration, when compared to other frequencies.”

This asset is known in the industry as the highly efficient 700-megahertz (MHz) band.

According to the Federal Communications Commission of the US, the location of such band— just above the television broadcast channels—allows it to penetrate buildings and walls easily, and to cover larger geographic areas with less infrastructure. But, of course, this is relative to frequencies in higher bands.

In the Philippines SMC’s subsidiaries hold the right to operate telecommunications services through the said channel, which is, unfortunately, currently highly underutilized.

The band, a gem to telecommunications companies, is extremely precious, that countries all over the world are yielding monetary dividends for its auction. In Manila, however, spectrums are not tendered, but are assigned.

Incumbent telcos to snatch 700-MHz band

WITH San Miguel subsidiaries WiTribe holding 80 MHz; High Frequency Telecommunications, 10 MHz; and New Century Telecommunications, 10 MHz, Telstra’s entry into the Philippine soil may easily be a success.

But a few months before it debuts in the Philippines, incumbent telecommunications providers seem to have been teaming up to suppress the regional giant’s plan of offering superior Internet services in the Southeast Asian country.

Citing the quality of the Internet in the country, Ray C. Espinosa, who heads Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.’s (PLDT) regulatory affairs and policies office, said reclaiming the underutilized frequency and auctioning it off to incumbent operators will help improve mobile broadband speeds in the Philippines.

“There is a very important facet to this speed issue that we should focus on and the government should help us, as well, to be able to provide the much-needed speed to mobile networks,” he said.

“The government should work hand in hand with incumbent and new entrants to make sure that scarce range of frequency spectrum that will enhance the speed of mobile telecom-

munications is made available on a fair and reasonable basis.”

Globally, the 700-MHz band was held by television operators and, as countries moved away from analog frequencies, the highly optimal spectrum was freed up for mobile telecommunications. This resource, however, is a scarce asset.

“There’s a lot of subscribers out there already pining for faster Internet mobile service. We can serve them well if we were given access. That is something that we have been seeking the intercession of the government on to give us access and allocation to that very scarce frequency,” Espinosa said.

The dominant telecommunications giant owns mobile services provider Smart Communications Inc., which operates three wireless brands.

Executives of Globe Telecom Inc., the main rival of the 87-year-old multimedia conglomerate, backed its opponent, saying that the equitable distribution of the unused 700-MHz frequency band is one of the answers to the explosion of mobile-data use in the Philippines.

“Part of the solution to the clamor for faster Internet is the harmonization of the 700-MHz frequency. Giving active and operating telecommunications companies access to this band will allow the industry to provide broadband and data services at faster speeds, and in a more cost-efficient manner,” Globe General Legal Counsel Froilan M. Castelo said.

Globe President Ernest L. Cu said he is hopeful that the government will now open its eyes to this request, as the company’s petition for the reallocation of the band was previously turned down by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) in 2008.

“There is no one country in the world that has the whole 700-MHz spectrum. I wish the government will bid it out. It’s one of the best spectrums of LTE, and San Miguel has been warehousing the 700 MHz for many years. So, let’s see what the government does with it,” he said.

Mary Grace Mirandilla-Santos, an independent researcher on information and communications technology (ICT) and telecommunications policies, said the calls from both telcos may pressure the regulator to auction off the muchcoveted band.

Although this may seem as a good prospect for both companies, Mirandilla-Santos was skeptical about their pronouncements.

“As we’re seeing, PLDT and Globe are now moving to pressure the NTC to auction off the 700MHz band that SMC has quietly

The PLDT Group has the right to operate the 800MHz, 900-MHz, 1,800-MHz and 2,100-MHz bands.

Globe, on the other hand, has rights to the 900-MHz, 1,800-MHz and 2,100-MHz bands. San Miguel Group operates spectrums under the 700-MHz, 800-MHz, 900-MHz and 1,800-MHz bands. acquired through the years, supposedly for ‘equitable allocation.’

While this would seem like common sense, it should be noted that PLDT and Globe also own a disproportionate number of spectrum allocations and licenses for other bands,” she said.

The PLDT Group has the right to operate the 800-MHz, 900MHz, 1,800-MHz and 2,100-MHz bands. Globe, on the other hand, has rights to the 900-MHz, 1,800MHz and 2,100-MHz bands.

San Miguel Group operates spectrums under the 700-MHz, 800-MHz, 900-MHz and 1,800MHz bands.

To date, there has never been a single auction for a spectrum license—all allocations have been assigned by the regulator due supposedly to the higher supply compared to the demand for spectrum.

“Spectrum management in the Philippines is not seen as fair, competitive and transparent. There has never been a single auction for a spectrum license,” she said.

Espinosa noted that his company is simply asking for a “fair share” of the spectrum.

“We want to participate in that digital dividend and that in doing

so we will be able to address many of the speed requirements of the mobile telecoms sphere,” he said. “If they open up 700 MHz to public bidding, we will obviously participate— and that would equate to a monetary dividend to the government.”

The reallocation of the band, he said, should be based on the subscriber base of the petitioners.

“The more subscribers you have, the larger the allocation you get,” he said, citing the case of the acquisition of Sun, when PLDT had to unload 10 MHz of the 2,100-MHz band—known as the 3G band—to open up the market for competition.

As of end-September, PLDT led the market with 70 million subscribers. Globe trailed behind with 50.1 million customers. San Miguel’s Wi-Tribe, on the other hand, serves 50,000 clients.

“It would be interesting to see how the NTC would respond, given the high demand for and value of the 700-MHz spectrum to the growing mobile broadband market,” Mirandilla-Santos said.

“Given the high demand and value of the 700-MHz band, the government cannot simply dismiss the clamor from the the country’s two largest Internet-service providers.”

‘Sorry, but no auction’

AN auction, however, is highly unlikely as SMC has started rolling out telecommunications infrastructure under the said band.

“They have started installing equipment already under the 700MHz band. They have the permit to purchase equipment. We could recall the band from them if either they have not been using the asset or have failed to pay the annual spectrum user fees of P6 per kilohertz,” NTC Director Edgardo V. Cabarios explained.

The government official seemed puzzled as to why the two telcos are calling on the government to bid out spectrums of the 700-MHz band.

After all, they were not too keen on these in the past.

“It was assigned to Wi-Tribe back in the early 1990s. The 700 MHz was originally assigned for broadcast or point-to-point and point-to-multipoint services; and back then, they were operating trunk radio services,” he said. “It was the only group back then that requested for the band.”

Cabarios added that contesting the right for the asset would entail a long and painful process.

“It’s a quasijudicial process.

Before you can reassign or recall a frequency, you have to file a case before the regulator—citing either nonuse or nonpayment of spectrum fees. Then, of course, the case will go through the Court of Appeals, if a party wants to contest the decision of the regulator. It’s a long process,” he said.

He urged the incumbents to simply maximize what their assigned bands have: a higher capacity, but lower reach.

“Lower bands have good coverage, their reach is farther. The catch there is this: it has no capacity. Higher bands have capacity, but the area of coverage is smaller—so that’s the tradeoff,” Cabarios said. “The key there is to maximize the use of your assigned frequencies to compete.”

Under the Philippine Telecommunications Policy Act of 1995, the only time when the government can auction off spectrums is “if the demand exceeds availability,” ensuring “wider access to this limited resource.”

The law, however, provides for a periodic review of the allocation and assignment of radio frequency.

To be concluded

A6 Friday, November 13, 2015 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Can the PHL afford a depreciating peso?

D

espite the Christmas season approaching, the next 45 days are going to be interesting, to say the least. The US Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (Fed) will meet in the middle of December to decide whether to raise interest rates.

It does not matter what that decision will turn out to be, as “Yes” or “No” will still have an important impact on the global currency and asset markets.

At this point, the odds are that the Fed will raise interest rates after keeping them at near zero for six years.

Last week when US economic data was released that increased the chances of a rate hike to 70 percent at the December Fed meeting, the US dollar immediately appreciated against a basket of major currencies by nearly 2 percent.

The dollar has been strong since August, with the US dollar index rising from 80 to the current 99 level, or a 24-percent surge. The US dollar has appreciated less than 5 percent against the Philippine peso in the same period.

This is because there has been a good and stable balance between foreign currency coming into and going out of the Philippines. Other countries, like Malaysia, have seen their currencies decrease in value against the US dollar by a significant amount.

But for sake of argument, let us assume that the Fed does raise interest rates next month and the global cash flows into the US to take advantage of the higher interest rates there, then this will affect the Philippine peso.

The peso is currently about 47 to $1. Probably the worst case scenario for the immediate future over the next months is that the exchange rate would move to 50 to $1 or a depreciation of about 6.5 percent. Can the Philippine economy afford that amount of depreciation?

We tend to think of changes on the peso exchange rate in simplistic terms. A lower peso means more money for the families of overseas workers; a high peso means less money. But that is completely inaccurate.

Changes in the exchange rate have much wider and far-reaching effect through the economy.

The last time the peso traded at 50 in 2006, the price of crude oil was $60 a barrel, for a peso equivalent price of 3,000 per barrel. Now a barrel of oil costs about P2,100 at the current exchange rate. If the peso went to 50 and global oil prices stayed the same, oil would cost P2,200 which would not have a significant impact on the price of fuel although pump prices would go higher.

However, inflation might rise nearer the 1-percent level from its current 0.4 percent. Perhaps, the biggest impact would be that a Fed interest-rate increase might stop the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) from lowering its interest rates unless the economy started going down as a rate decrease would further depreciate the peso, increasing inflation.

Certainly, the Philippine economy can handle more peso deprecation because the government has its fiscal house in order and the BSP has done its job properly. We are ready for whatever happens.

Yay, Kim Chiu!

James Jimenez

I

spox

Ncomplete biometrics isn’t the same as no biometrics at all. This is the sentiment that underscores the Commission on Elections’s (Comelec) recent resolution allowing voters with incomplete biometrics to vote on election day 2016.

Let’s backtrack a bit.

Section 3 of Republic Act (RA) 10367, entitled “An Act Providing for Mandatory Biometrics Voter Registration,” mandated registered voters whose biometrics data have not been captured to undergo the validation process. Section 7 of the same law provides for the deactivation of registration records of voters who will fail to submit for validation on or before the last day of filing of application for registration for purposes of the May 2016 National and Local Elections.

In the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for RA 10367, Comelec Resolution 9721 dated June 26, 2013, the Comelec amplified on these provisions by declaring who ought to undergo validation, and by explaining the consequences of a failure to validate: Section 2 of Comelec Resolution 9721 declares that “the following registered voters shall have their biometrics data validated: [1] Those who do not have Biometrics data appearing in the Voter Registration System [VRS]; and [2] Those who have incomplete Biometrics data

appearing in the VRS.” Section 8, in turn, made it clear that despite those with incomplete biometrics still being required to validate, the consequences of failing to validate would fall only on those who had no biometrics data at all. Thus, it provided that “the registration records of voters without biometrics data who failed to submit for validation on or before the last day of filing of applications for registration for the purpose of the May 9, 2016, National and Local Elections shall be deactivated in the last Election Registration Board (ERB) hearing to be conducted prior to said elections.”

So who has incomplete biometrics, as opposed to those with no biometrics?

It must be noted that the Comelec uses three “kinds” of biometrics: the image of the registrant’s face, the registrant’s digitally scanned fingerprints, and the registrant’s signature, captured directly by the personal-computer voterregistration machine. If a registrant has all three, then he is considered to have complete biometrics. Anything short of

having all three, by definition, becomes “incomplete biometrics.”

With the campaign to have 9.6 million validated, the distinction between the two may have blurred somewhat, as focus was placed squarely on the importance of validation process during the registration period. To accommodate the expected crush of people, the Comelec made satellite registrations mandatory for all Comelec field offices.

In fact, in some places, satellite offices were opened up exclusively for validation purposes, in a wide variety of locations from gated communities to barangay basketball courts; from public markets to malls. All for the purpose of bringing the registration process closer to the people, thereby encouraging broader voter participation.

The last three months, however, demonstrated that a significant number of people would still fail to meet the deadline: both those with only incomplete biometrics and those with no biometrics at all. Which brings us back to that provision of the IRR stating that “the registration records of voters without biometrics data who failed to submit for validation on or before the last day of filing of applications for registration for the purpose of the May 9, 2016, National and Local Elections shall be deactivated in the last ERB hearing to be conducted prior to said elections.”

While some may take issue with what they perceive to be a relaxing of the rules (which it isn’t), the fact remains that this move means registered voters who, through no fault of their own, have incomplete biometrics information in

the system, will not be unfairly penalized by the operation of the Mandatory Biometrics Law. nnn IN a related story, late last Wednesday, a viral video surfaced online purportedly showing actress Kim Chiu being allowed to cut in on the queue at a crowded satellite registration center. The person taking the video loudly denounced the practice of giving celebrities preferential treatment.

Predictably, the irate videographer’s lament was taken up by netizens and by Thursday morning, a significant number of social-media posts were condemning both the Comelec for letting it happen and Kim Chiu herself, for supposedly taking advantage of her fame.

And then the young lady responded.

In a tweet to someone who had apparently taken her to task, Chiu wrote: “I was there 7:30 a.m. po kasi I had a flight after, my RM [road manager] lined up for me po, close pa mall. Nung turn ko na po tsaka ako bumaba. [I was there at 7:30 a.m. because I had a flight afterward, my RM lined up for me, while the mall was still closed. When it was my turn, that was the time I came down.]”

In an understandably caustic rejoinder, Chiu added: “don’t judge if you don’t know the real story...don’t base sa kung anong nakikita ng mata...know everything first, bago magkwento.” I don’t think that needs any translation, and apart from the dodgy punctuation, I’d say those were words of wisdom.

James Arthur B. Jimenez is director of the Commission on Elections’s education and information department.

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Opinion

Apec and poverty

Nature Boy

BusinessMirror

Tito Genova Valiente

Leonardo A. Lanzona Jr.

EAGLE WATCH

U

nlike most trade agreements, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) operates simply as a cooperative, multilateral economic and trade forum. The process engages the member-economies to an open dialogue and fosters mutual respect for views of all participants. In Apec, there are no binding commitments or treaty obligations. Commitments are undertaken on a voluntary basis, and capacity-building projects help members implement Apec initiatives.

As host of the Apec meetings this year, the Philippines has proposed the theme, “Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World.” This is a path-breaking development for any international community as it implicitly accepts the fact that trade is ultimately not the goal of development. The priority is the improvement in the lives of the people in the region, not merely the exchange of goods and services.

In fact, orthodox trade theory has never concluded that growth will be even. In a world characterized by external economies, those countries that have pioneered and have started growth earlier will be able to accumulate wealth faster relative to those countries that have started late. Convergence in incomes can only be expected if countries are all competitive and eventually operates under constant returns to scale or at the most efficient levels. However, as markets are mostly imperfectly competitive and certain industries possess substantial market power for some regions, certain countries that have already gained a foothold in several sectors, and hence gained some dominance in capital development, would eventually experience lower costs of production, and naturally have a greater advantage. Trade, thus, reinforces this advantage and creates greater inequality.

The best recourse for the poor countries then is to use trade, not so much to obtain goods but to learn more of the existing technology and to gain greater access to capital. Two prominent, yet controversial, hypotheses about economic development are the so-called advantage of backwardness, such that on comparing two otherwise similar countries the one with the lower initial mean income will tend to see the higher rate of growth, and the advantage of growth, whereby a higher mean income tends to result to a lower incidence of absolute poverty. Previous empirical support for both hypotheses has shown that the dynamic processes for growth and poverty reduction do not depend directly on the initial level of poverty. Under these assumptions, we should see poverty convergence, that is, countries starting out with a high incidence of absolute poverty (reflecting a lower mean) should enjoy a higher subsequent growth rate and (hence) higher proportionate rate of poverty reduction. Indeed, the mean income and the poverty rate will have the same speed of convergence in widely used simplified models.

Unfortunately, the empirical proof to these hypotheses has been untenable for many poorer countries, including the Philippines. More precisely, while there may have a convergence in incomes, the convergence in poverty has not been significant.

Economist Martin Ravallion of Georgetown University explains that very low income levels effectively negate the advantage of backwardness, and to a large extent, the presence of a strong middle income will be crucial to be able to obtain this advantage.

Furthermore, with higher poverty incidence, greater inequality in income distribution becomes a constraint to economic and social development.

The Apec leaders should then realize that trade does not lead to a trickle-down effect. In order to address poverty, inequality itself should be the main priority. In which case, the market-oriented programs, including trade liberalization, instead of

The Apec leaders should realize that trade does not lead to a trickle-down effect. In order to address poverty, inequality itself should be the main priority. In which case, the market-oriented programs, including trade liberalization, instead of being the solution, may be the cause of greater poverty rates within and across nations. being the solution, may be the cause of greater poverty rates within and across nations.

For instance, one of the main issues of the summit here is the state of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The problem in the Philippines, as well as in other poor countries, is that MSMEs have remained small over the years. Apec has been cognizant of these problems. However, the solutions being offered are fundamentally based on the market-oriented processes.

These can be classified into two: (1) the promotion of larger markets to local industries to secure greater employment opportunities, as assistance for antipoverty measures and supporting social development; and (2) the enhancement of assistance in infrastructure building, technology transfer, MSME promotion, and development of supporting industries, demarcation and coordination with other public funds. In this case, assistance not only focuses on responding to the crisis, but also in strengthening the existing financial system, developing core human resources, and upgrading business management and technical skills.

While these measures are consistent with individual country concerns, these programs are inadequate in developing MSMEs. What is missing is the aspect of public goods that can help the MSMEs in poorer countries to prosper and generate positive externalities to their communities.

Public goods become global (sometimes called international public goods) in nature when the benefits flow to more than one country and no country can effectively be denied access to those benefits. The promotion and protection of cultural diversity, core labor rights and the environment, through global cooperation, are all regarded as global public goods. For instance, health has been seen to have a significant effect on the productivity of the poor.

Hence, this can be an important input coming from the international community. The provision of public goods related to human investments, especially from the richer nations or the wealthier sectors within the country, will be crucial in reducing inequality and alleviating poverty.

Trade liberalization is a vital ingredient for development, especially for the Philippines where the trade sector has not contributed significantly to growth. However, to distribute the benefits from this policy, complementary institutions must be established in order to create global public goods. Clearly, Apec is a crucial vehicle for making this a reality.

Leonardo Lanzona Jr. is the director of Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development and a senior fellow of Eagle Watch, the school’s macroeconomic research and forecasting unit.

annotations

L

ovely in her mid-80s, she paused after warm laughter and long applause greeted her speech. Then she leaned close to the microphone and started to sing in that voice known to opera lovers: And then one day, one magic day, he passed my way/ And while we spoke of many things, fools and kings/ This he said to me to me/The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.

The voice of Fides did not soar over the crowd in the Main Theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines; rather, the words and the music and that voice embraced the audience, telling them the story of an artist, what she believed in as her ultimate life principle. The singing was not at all cheesy. That act came naturally, closing for Fides the artist the years she shared with the memories of that crowd The song was “Nature Boy,” a piece that was popularized by Nat “King” Cole.

Amazing always how music can change the texture and contour of a ceremony. When Fides stepped on that stage that afternoon, she was the indomitable opera star, a diva to those music students who learned from her in the 1960s and 1970s and up to the present. But when she picked that popular ballad, she wanted to tell more, to be thankful for a life that was not really the core of what was being recognized that afternoon.

That afternoon in September, a song replaced speech, and sound became preeminent.

“Sound” or a “particular sound” was what Glenn Miller was looking for when he composed music for the bands of the 1930s and 1940s.

Who remembers Glenn Miller? Well, who remembers the last world war?

I was not born during the war but my generation—if some of us cared to listen—was listening every now and then to music that accompanied the war. And Miller’s was the background music as young men

and women from the US—and many from the Allied Forces—took a rest from and prepared for the warfront.

“In the Mood,” “Tuxedo Junction,” and that old warhorse, “Moonlight Serenade,” are just some of the sound that reminded some generations of war and death, separation and hunger.

In our old home, Miller was the favored music of grandfathers. It was thus a gift this month for me to finally view a clear, good copy of the film, The Glenn Miller Story. Played by Jimmy Steward, Glenn Miller was the epitome of gentlemanliness of years gone by. Then I realized that the ordinary clothing of this man playing

Friday, November 13, 2015 A7

Miller had become the ultimate in fashion now for men who could afford to buy good things.

It is difficult to separate a Hollywood icon like Stewart from a popular music giant like Miller in the same way that cinemas of certain period have blurred for us the distinctiveness of a real war and how film productions have depicted the same war.

Then there is the war and its vestiges that include military training.

Why did we march under the sun in high school? Why did we carry guns—wooden in high school and real rifles in college for some— during the training?

Hollywood, and not only the political and economic system that spawned the great war, has designed for us our childhood and manhood.

Hollywood was the source of images about soldiering and, therefore, of marching.

The film, The Glenn Miller Story, has simplified the war for us. Music continued in places where America had fielded its men and women. People in those wartime years were the bravest if we are to believe the film about Glenn Miller. Musicians were even braver.

The propaganda in the film like The Glenn Miller Story is so strong because it is embedded in the

narrative about the family in the film, Helen, the wife of Miller is all ready to bid good-bye to his husband who is conscripted to the army. And this she does without the gravity of sadness. It seems the producers in this film, which was done in 1953 and not during the war years, tried to create women and men who were unnaturally tough.

The most dramatic part of The Glenn Miller Story is when his family, already informed that he is missing, listens to the broadcast of his band playing for a Christmas eve concert.

Bled of sorrow, the film barely shows any reaction from Miller’s family.

When that reedy sound rises into crescendo, there are some tears on the face of Helen but those were wiped away, and fast. The wife is soon smiling after all, as one band member says, the music of Glenn Miller will live on.

The music of Glenn Miller did live on. Bette Midler resurrected “In the Mood.” Carly Simon recorded a sultry version of “Moonlight Serenade.”

Wars did not stop. The Korean War was raging by the time the film about Miller came out. But no music became popular as backdrop to any war.

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com

Women in tech: Getting over the gender gap Niña Terol

Women Stepping UP Part 1

E

arlier this week, Google’s Doodle featured one of Hollywood’s glamorous screen legends, Hedy Lamarr, who at the time was often called “The Most Beautiful Woman in Films.” More astonishing than her beauty and her film credentials were her contributions to science and technology.

Inspired by how a piano works, Lamarr (who was born in Austria as Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler) co-developed technology that prevented German submarines from intercepting Allied radio signals during World War II. Called the “Secret Communication System,” this patented technology, according to Google Doodle Jennifer Hom, “laid the groundwork for widely used technologies like Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi that we rely upon daily.”

Unfortunately, prevailing prejudices prevented Lamarr/Kiesler from receiving due recognition from the scientific community for her contributions. She wasn’t able to join the National Inventors Council as she had wanted to, and even in her old age she was associated with Hollywood and was offered scripts for roles that she turned down anyway.

Many other female scientists, engineers and inventors have suffered a similar fate as Lamarr/Kiesler’s, and 101 years after the famed actress’ and inventor’s birth, huge leaps and

advances in technology have failed to address the fact that technology is still largely a man’s world.

Gender gaps in the 21st century

Aside from the “Gender Pay Gap,” which is a hot topic now in corporate and tech America, a February 2015 report released in the technology web site Dice.com suggests that there is also what is called the “Position Gap”—in which men often occupy more senior roles than women in tech, which also accounts for the pay difference. “The obvious question is then,” Dice.com asks, “why more of these positions are not being filled by females.”

“At this time, it is unclear why this is the case, although we suspect that a number of societal and lifestyle factors generally come into play,” Dice.com says.

While the Philippines fares well in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index—ranking first in Asia and ninth worldwide in gender equality in 2014, above even more developed countries, such as

Germany (12th), Canada (19th), the United States (20th) and Singapore (59th)—the gender divide is still felt in the tech sector.

Tina Amper, a Silicon Valley “alumna” and founder of the annual tech start-up conference, Geeks on a Beach, estimates that female-led tech start-ups comprise only “20 percent to 30 percent” of the whole tech start-up industry in the Philippines. She is quick to disclaim, however, that this is based on anecdotal evidence alone and is inconclusive.

Looking at Geeks on a Beach’s lineup of speakers, however, it does seem like the tech scene is still dominated by men. This year’s roster includes only nine women out of 58 speakers over two days.

Another Silicon Valley alumna, Stef Sy, a Stanford-educated data scientist who founded the data consultancy companies Thinking Machines and Silicon Valley Insight, shares a similar observation. She recounts how tech meetups in the Philippines, such as those for programmers and developers, still tend to be male-dominated and “awkward” at best for female techies. This is what prompted her and other women coders to be active in the PyLadies community, a group for women users of the open-source programming language, Python. PyLadies Manila now has almost 100 members and continues to grow.

Facing gender bias

Both Amper and Sy also speak of a “gender bias” still existing in the tech world, although Sy says that “there seems to be a bit more balance here than in Silicon Valley.”

According to Amper, “Being a founder is hard enough as it is, so I

give kudos to anyone who wants to start or run a business…[but] I think the additional challenge of being a female founder comes into play in certain situations—a female founder with a family may have additional challenges, such as work-familyself balance.”

Sy shares a similar sentiment.

“There seems to be a glorification of the working mom and of the notion that ‘you can do it all,’” she says. “But the reality is that the prime years for starting a company are the same prime years for having a baby.”

In order to create a more empowering environment, Sy says that workplace policies should be progressive enough to support working parents—both women and men—so that men aren’t chastised for being hands-on parents and women are able to get the support that they need at work and at home. nnn

In the next installment of this feature, we’ll share specific recommendations for getting more women on board the tech sector—whether they are tech newbies or aspiring entrepreneurs. For a macro look at closing gender gaps in the Philippines and the Asia Pacific, an interesting back-read is Boots GeotinaGarcia’s October 15, 2015 piece here on “Women Stepping Up.” Niña Terol (@ninaterol) heads corporate affairs for the largest multinational integrated marketing communications firm in the Philippines, is a founding trustee of Business and Professional Women (BPW) Makati, and has been widely published in local and international publications. She is also a tech enthusiast and hopes to be more active in the local tech scene.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Friday, November 13, 2015

Passage of state workers’ pay hike seen after Apec T

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

he House of Representatives is targeting to approve the proposed Salary Standardization Law (SSL) of 2015, or SSL 4, after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Leaders’ Meeting next week, or when session resumes on November 23.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the Wednesday’s passage of House Bill 6268, or the SSL 4, on second reading showed the House’s determination in providing a timely and necessary pay raise to government personnel.

“It’s been three years since the last tranche of the Salary Standardization Law, or SSL 3, was effected and completed. It’s about time we update the compensation and position classification system for our government personnel to make their pay competitive with the market rates and the private sector,” the Speaker said.

The bill—principally authored

by Belmonte, House Majority Leader Neptali M. Gonzales II of Mandaluyong City, House Committee on Appropriations Chairman Rep. Isidro Ungab of Davao City, Committee on Accounts Chairman and Romblon Rep. Eleandro Jesus F. Madrona—will modify the com-

pensation and position classification system of civilian government personnel and the base pay schedule of military and uniformed personnel in the government to be implemented in four tranches, starting January 1, 2016.

The bill seeks to strengthen the link between pay and performance through an enhanced performance-based bonus system, temper the cost of benefit while maximizing the benefits of employees and allow higher takehome pay, especially for government personnel belonging to the lower salary grades.

The measure will result in a weighted-average increase of 45 percent in the compensation of all salary grades and raise compensation of government personnel to at least 70 percent of the privatesector rate.

Earlier, Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said the SSL 4

will be effected through a combination of a salary increase, a 14th-month pay and an enhanced performance-based bonus to be implemented over a four-year period, from January 1, 2016 to January 1, 2019.

Abad said the SSL 4 is based on Joint Resolution 4 enacted by Congress in 2009, mandating the review of the compensation and position classification system after three years from the last year of the adjustment to determine the competitiveness of government pay in relation to the private sector and the compensation strategy to bring government pay closer to market rate.

Under the new SSL , those u nd e r S a l a r y Gr ad e (S G) 1, who are now receiving P9,000 per month, will get P9,478 per month under Step 1 of the first tranche; P9,981 under the second tranche; P10,510 under the third tranche; and P11,068 under the final tranche.

Those in the highest level, or SG 33, who are presently receiving P120,000 per month, will get P160,000 per month in the first tranche; P215,804 in the second tranche; P289,4010 in the third tranche; and P388,096 in the final tranche.

Tax adjustment

The leadership of the House has also expressed hope that the

measure adjusting the levels of taxable income to inflation will be passed into law before the 16th Congress ends next year.

Liberal Party Rep. Romero Quimbo of Marikina City, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, however, said Congress leaders are still waiting for President Aquino’s response to the proposal following the Chief Executive’s meeting with Belmonte and Senate President Franklin Drilon on the matter on Monday.

“I continue to hope—it’s not a vain hope—that the tax measure, which we started in the House two years ago, will see the light of day before President [Aquino] steps down [in June next year],” Quimbo said in a weekly news forum in Quezon City.

The lawmaker added that Belmonte and Drilon are pushing for the said proposal as compromise to the measure lowering incomeand corporate-tax rates, which was strongly opposed by the Palace.

“Our hope is essentially based on these things: first, it is of sound policy carried out when we pass the NIRC [National Internal Revenue Code] in 1997 that the mandate really was to adjust it to inflation.

Second is that it is also timely; it has been quite a long time that we have really reviewed the unchanged tax structure itself,” Quimbo said.

See “Pay hike,” A2

BSP. . .

Continued from A1

the Cabinet economic cluster in Malacañang that the $285-million Philippine economy continues to hum based on inflation numbers that, while below-target at present, should soon accelerate to withintarget levels down the line.

For 2016, inflation is now expected to hit 2.3 percent, from earlier forecast of 2.6 percent. For 2017, inflation was forecast at 2.9 percent, from an earlier expectation of 3 percent. This means that, for both years, inflation should fall within the government target.

According to the BSP, lower headline inflation in September and October were to blame for the reduction in the forecast. This was coupled with the decline in oil and other commodity prices.

The central bank also said that while the anticipated US Federal Reserve (the Fed) rate hike were to impact on emerging markets as the Philippines, such should not be “very significant” as the same had been anticipated and factored in by the market for some time now.

Instead, the BSP bared more details to the proposed interest rate corridor or IRC believed to now be the focus of the monetary authorities going forward.

“Injecting stimulus to already vibrant domestic demand may engender inflationary pressures down the road, while the BSP expects inflation to gradually move within the target band in 2016 and 2017. The BSP opted to stay neutral as it carefully awaits possible spillovers from the projected Fed rate hike at the end of the year,” Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) economist Nicholas Antonio Mapa said in reaction.

“The BSP maybe more inclined to finalize preparations for the IRC, given it had conducted preemptive moves in 2015 in anticipation of the

➜GLOBE, SMART BOOST SALE OF RAIL BEEP CARDS

ONE million beep cards have been sold to commuters of the three rail lines in Metro Manila, thanks to initiatives of Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. to launch their own debit cards embedded with the contactless payment technology.

AF Payments Inc. CEO Peter Maher said the figure is the combined result of the standard beep cards sold in the stations through the tellers and the ticket vending machines, as well as the co-issued beep cards of PayMaya and Globe GCash. This figure more than triples the initial 300,000 target set by the train operators and AF Payments early this year.

“We are delighted that rail commuters in Metro Manila have taken so readily to the new beep card,” he said. “Today, beep cards are already used to pay for more than 50 percent of all rail transactions on Light Rail Transit Lines 1 and 2, and the Metro Rail Transit Line 3.” The new payment system started a little over four months ago. Its full implementation, however, only commenced on October 3. Lorenz S. Marasigan

T

➜SC ASKED TO STOP LRT CAVITE EXTENSION DEAL

➜GOVT TO SPEND P289.3M FOR NEW INCOME SURVEY

The national government estimates that it will spend a total of P289.3 million to conduct the income and expenditure survey, as well as a pilot study on gender equality.

The Philippine Statistics Authority estimates that it will spend P283.8 million, or P6,305.73 per household, to conduct the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) nationwide.

The PSA said it will spend P5.5 million, or P3,548.39 per household, to conduct the 2015 Evidence and Data for Gender Equality Project, the first of its kind in the country. The FIES, a survey that is conducted every three years, aims to collect data on the level of Filipinos’ incomes and spending for a particular period .

Cai U. Ordinario

Fed rate hike,” Mapa added.

At the news briefing following the monetary board meeting, Deputy BSP Governor for the Monetary Stability Sector Diwa C. Guinigundo said the BSP may also implement adjustments in the policy rates at the same time it pursues the IRC. Guinigundo added that the IRC is a work in progress, and stressed the markets will be less confused if the adjustments were done policy neutral and “purely procedural” in nature.

“Where it is going to be is something that will be the subject of the decision of the Monetary Board. How narrow [the IRC will be] is also another policy that will be set,” Guinigundo said.

The IRC was earlier seen implemented in the second quarter next year and will help make monetary operations more effective.

The corridor, Guinigundo also earlier said, will involve the BSP’s policy rate and special deposits account (SDA) rate. The BSP’s lending or repurchase rate will be the ceiling and the SDA interest rate will be the floor of the IRC. Separately, the risk for financial-sector reforms to lose steam or become misdirected soon after next year’s scheduled elections was rated low under latest assessment conducted by the global credit watchdog Moody’s Investors Service. The New York-based ratings firm said the usual political noise normally cropping up close to or around the electoral process should neither stop nor derail the reform process.

Moody’s, in its most recent paper on political risks around Southeast Asia, said the likelihood for the Philippines to revert or renege on its reform commitments remains low just like in two other countries in the region.

PSE okays initial public offering of Italpinas

briefs

A PETITION was filed on Thursday before the Supreme Court (SC) seeking to stop the implementation of the P65-billion concession agreement for the Cavite Extension Project executed between the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) for being grossly disadvatangeous to the government.

The petition was filed by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan represented by its secretary general, Renato M. Reyes Jr., Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna, commuter group Train Riders Network, Courage Chairman Ferdinand Gaite, Riles convenor Sammy Malunes, Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) employee Ma. Kristina Cassion and scientist group Agham, represented by its Secretary-General Feny Cosico.

“We are filing this petition on behalf of thousands of daily LRT [Light Rail Transit] commuters, as well as the Filipino taxpayers, who will shoulder the ill effects of the contract for the next three decades.

The contract is loaded with sovereign guarantees that are contrary to law and detrimental to the people. The Aquino government, through the DOTC, negotiated a lopsided contract that will place us deep in debt,” Reyes said in a statement. Joel R. San Juan

www.businessmirror.com.ph

executive of the year Kevin Tan (center), first vice president and division head of Megaworld Commercial Division, receives the trophy on behalf of his

father Andrew L. Tan, chairman of Alliance Global Group Inc., for winning the Smart Global Filipino Executive of the Year during the Asia CEO Awards 2015 held at the Marriott Grand Ballroom in Pasay City. Giving the awards are Eric Alberto (right), executive vice president of PLDT Global Corp.; and Jovy Hernandez, first vice president of PLDT Enterprise Group. ROY DOMINGO

Alsons to pursue Mindanao expansion A

lsons Consolidated Resources Inc. will proceed with a $920-million expansion to more than double its power-generating capacity in Mindanao by 2019, even as the southern Philippine island faces a possible oversupply. The stock rose for the first time this week.

Alsons, the oldest electricity generator in Mindanao, has supply contracts for 90 percent of the combined 315-megawatt (MW) capacity of the three coalfired power plants being built by the company, insulating the projects from a possible glut should all the new plants come on stream, CFO Luis Ymson said on Wednesday. The three power plants will raise the company’s generating capacity to 573 MW by 2019.

Mindanao, the nation’s second-biggest island and home to a quarter of the Philippines’s 108 million people, will have at least 1,860 MW of new

capacity from 2016 through 2019, as Alsons and other companies, including Aboitiz Power Corp., San Miguel Corp., Filinvest Development Corp., and Ayala Corp., complete their plans. Mindanao had 2,211 MW of installed capacity at end-2014, half of which are hydropower plants, according to government data.

“We don’t build plants unless we have off-takers,” Ymson said in an interview.

“We have practically contracted all” the capacity Alsons is building. Alsons will start operating the first of its new three power plants in the first quarter of 2016, while the construction of the other two plants will start in the second and fourth quarters, he said.

Stake sale

Alsons has hired ING Bank NV to arrange a P7.5-billion ($159-million) loan and is considering selling as much as 32 percent

of the company, valued at about P3.16 billion based on Alsons’ market value, to help fund expansion, Ymson said.

There are four groups seeking to acquire a stake in the company, he said, declining to name the prospective buyers. Direct stakes in the power plants may also be sold should that be preferred by investors, he added.

“Alsons has very promising prospects and investors’interest in the stock will grow as this capacity expansion comes through,” said Astro del Castillo, managing director at First Grade Finance Inc. Alsons shares rose 1.3 percent as of 2:45 p.m. in Manila, heading for the steepest advance since October 23. The stock earlier climbed as much as 1.9 percent. The company, 80 percent owned by the family of Chairman Tomas Alcantara, has declined 22 percent this year, after surging 51 percent in 2014. Bloomberg News

he Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Thursday approved the initial public offering (IPO) of sustainable real-estate firm Italpinas Development Corp. (IDC).

In its notice, the PSE said IDC will offer 57.62-million primary shares to the public at up to P4.20 per share. IDC, which will list at PSE’s Small, Medium and Emerging Board, will raise up to P242 million.

Proceeds from the offering will be used to fund capital expenditures for new projects, land banking and acquisitions, general working capital and for retirement of existing obligations.

The offer will run from November 23 to 27, while listing of the shares is slated on December 7.

Unicapital Inc., currently the country’s leading and most active fullservice investment house, led by Unicapital Securities Inc. President and CEO Leonardo R. Arguelles Jr., who’s also the managing director of Equity Capital Markets of Unicapital Inc., is the lead underwriter for IDC’s IPO. Italpinas plans to develop several projects, which range from mixeduse buildings to condotels, hotels, resorts and beach communities all over the country.

The company, formerly known as Italpinas Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corp., is behind Primavera Residences, its flagship real-estate project in Cagayan de Oro. Italpinas was established by Italian architect Romolo V. Nati and his Filipino business partner lawyer Jose D. Leviste III in 2009. Nati is the chairman and COO, while Leviste is the president of IDC. Primavera Residences is a mixed-use eco-friendly condominium development in Cagayan de Oro City that incorporates many sustainability features.